Timekeeping is handled in a few different ways by the various societies of Esterfell. The measurement of days and months are generally based on physical aspects of Mote, such as the movement of its natural satellites across the sky, which can allow for easy conversion between systems.
A second, sometimes referred to as a "moment", is an arbitrary small unit of time which divides larger timekeeping measurements.
A minute is 60 seconds.
An hour is 60 minutes (3,600 seconds).
A day, also known as a solar day, is the time period of a full rotation of Mote with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours (86,400 seconds), when not extended during a lunar day.
Occasionally, when the orbits of the moons of Mote come in close proximity, the complicated interactions of their gravity and starstuff energies can temporarily slow their movement across the sky. This confluence wreaks havoc on the surface of Mote, extending the length of the day as the world's rotation is temporarily disrupted and tidally locked by the amplified lunar forces. These periods are known as "lunar days".
A lunar day slows the orbital speed of all involved moons for the entirety of their interaction as their gravitational and stellar forces drag against each other. This drag can vary in length from a few hours to over a day.
A month is the time period of a full orbit of a moon around Mote. This period varies depending on which moon is used as a reference point:
Note that these are minimal durations, as the length of a month will be extended when one or more lunar days occur within the orbital period.
The most commonly used calendar systems in both the Esterfell Accord and Subros use Kiva's orbit as the measure of a month, though both take different approaches to addressing the eccentricity of this period.
A week is an arbitrary subdivision of a month, usually constructed to aid in the tracking of the passage of time and to create cycles of work and rest within a month of a nation's calendar system. Kiva and Dreg-based calendars typically designate a week as 7 days (604,800 seconds), as it acts as a quarter of a Kivan month and a sixth of a dreg; given that a Bathýpelan month is only 8 days long, a week is impractical for such calendars where used. As weeks are largely social constructs, they are not generally impacted by the eccentricity of lunar orbits, unless long enough to add the equivalent of another day to the period.
Though different cultures use varying names to label a seven-day week, they roughly correlate to the same astronomical symbols across most societies in the following order: the Stars, the Sky, the Sun, Kiva, Bathýs, Pela, and Dreg. The Days of the Week table describes the Common name for each day, its corresponding astronomical symbol, and the day name's linguistic origin.
| Number | Name | Astronomical Symbol | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elenday | The Stars | Elvish |
| 2 | Sunnenday | The Sun | Halfling |
| 3 | Akhday | The Sky | Dwarvish |
| 4 | Kinsday | Kiva | Minotaur |
| 5 | Barday | Bathýs | Aquan |
| 6 | Peyday | Pela | Aquan |
| 7 | Rythday | Dreg | Common |
A year is the time period of a full orbit of Mote around the Sun, marking a full cycle of the seasons. This revolution takes approximately 336 days (29,030,400 seconds). Though the length of a Mote year and the periods of seasons are unaffected by lunar days, the perturbations of the Sun and other celestial bodies can result in a slightly slower or faster revolution.
The most commonly used calendar systems in Esterfell are the Kivan Year, the Harvest Calendar, and the Tides of Fathoms. All three calendars divide each year into months marked roughly by the movement of a moon of Mote.
A Kivan year is divided into twelve months of twenty-eight days each, making the year exactly 336 days long. The length of a month is based on Kiva's minimum uninterrupted orbital period, as Esterfell's largest moon has the most direct influence on tidal patterns and periods of starfall. However, the Kivan calendar's strict adherence to regular timekeeping does not account for the presence of lunar days, which causes the measure of months to drift over time as they fall out of alignment with Kiva's adjusted orbit. This can make it difficult to account for the disruption lunar days can cause when determining the day of a week, the length of a month, or when an annual event aligns with the seasons.
The Kivan system of tracking years was brought by settlers of Esterfell from prior nations that had previously developed this system, which made it convenient to continue its use among neighboring Esterfell nations. The names of the months are sourced from deities of the ancient Mote pantheon, but enough time has passed since the people of Esterfell were separated from their ancestral lands that the worship of other gods has supplanted some of these domains.
| Number | Name |
|---|---|
| 1 | Kaishi |
| 2 | Griv |
| 3 | Bréa |
| 4 | Lexon |
| 5 | Bail |
| 6 | Mull |
| 7 | Lyax |
| 8 | Ëuil |
| 9 | Kret |
| 10 | Bhán |
| 11 | Merci |
| 12 | Dyrth |
As the Esterfell settlers departed their ancient shores, they continued to track the years using the Kivan calendar, dutifully marking the passage of time since year 1. Though the significance of this epoch has long been lost to the modern people of Esterfell, the numbering remained intact; for example, Esterfell was settled by the first waves of immigrants starting in 1128.
After the Esterfell Accord formed their union, the fledgling nation kept the existing Kivan months and seasons, but created a new system of tracking the years known as Ambulare Populi (abbreviated as "AP"). The name comes from an ancient Mote language and means "walk of the people", reflecting the journey the people of Esterfell took from the old world. The first day of Kaishi following the signing of the Accord on 23 Bhán 1181—known within the Accord as "Union Day"—thus marked the advent of 1 AP, starting the Accord's new year system.
The nation of Subros, having no particular allegiance to the Accord or deference to their holidays, continued to track their years from the ancient world. Esterfolk will also occasionally refer to the old year system, either when engaging in trade with Subrosians or when referring to pre-Accord historical events. When a distinction is needed, "Kivan Standard" (abbreviated to "KS") is sometimes used to refer to the older year system. Farmers tracking seasonal cycles with the Harvest Calendar will use whichever numbering system aligns with their home nation, and their tendency to switch between the systems means farmers' almanacs are popular references in multiple societies for quick conversions.
The Harvest Calendar is unique among the systems employed by Esterfell societies, as it uses Dreg's longer orbital period as a reference point to mark the months rather than Kiva. A Dreg month (often called a dreg for short) is 42 days long when not influenced by lunar days, meaning there are 8 dregs in a harvest year.
As the name suggests, this system tracks the dregs and seasons for the purpose of farming and harvesting crops. Seed and Douse mark the start of the spring season when the earliest crops are planted, Harsh and Blight are the hot summer months when planting slows, Thresh and Still are the autumn period when many crops are harvested, and Kiln and Fray bridge the coldest winter days when harvests are used to sustain families when plant growth ceases.
Although a harvest year marks its months in dregs, the requirement to align with a season for agrarian accuracy means it must necessarily ignore random lunar days when measuring the year overall. When date precision is required for scheduling crop production, the most typical approach is to force the advent of each season to its fixed date (1 Seed for spring, 1 Harsh for summer, 1 Thresh for autumn, and 1 Kiln for winter) and ignore the extra lengths of time added to a given dreg.
| Number | Name |
|---|---|
| 1 | Seed |
| 2 | Douse |
| 3 | Harsh |
| 4 | Blight |
| 5 | Thresh |
| 6 | Still |
| 7 | Kiln |
| 8 | Fray |
The Tides of Fathoms divide the year into twelve months based directly and exclusively on Kiva's orbital period. The number of days in a tidal month or tidal year thus vary depending on whether a lunar day occurs during that period of time, as the Xiahuli include these days in a given month to keep their measures consistent with Kiva's varying orbital period and the resulting tidal forces.
| Number | Name |
|---|---|
| 1 | Pela |
| 2 | Aphotis |
| 3 | Abyssi |
| 4 | Demer |
| 5 | Benthis |
| 6 | Hados |
| 7 | Bathýs |
| 8 | Meso |
| 9 | Epiphis |
| 10 | Photic |
| 11 | Stratos |
| 12 | Tropos |
The Xiahuli ascribe the months to specific oceanic depths, seeing the movement of Kiva as a great float bobbing up and down through the seas of Mote. The months are named after these depths and broadly describe Kiva's mythological journey to the deepest point on the ocean floor in the month of Bathýs at winter time, then back up to the surface in the summer month of Pela, which marks the start of the year. The binary Bathýs-Pela moon system acts as an emblem of these two extremes.
The Tides of Fathoms predate any other calendar system currently practiced on Mote, going back tens of thousands of years to times exceeding any modern society's memory. Absolute tidal years are not counted with any consistency, as the Xiahuli consider a year to be an eternal cycle of creation, growth, destruction, and restoration. Specificity is typically only necessary when communicating with landfolk, in which case the seafolk might borrow the Kivan Standard Year or Ambularae Populi.
The Significant Dates by Calendar table approximately marks any dates deemed worthy of tracking by the people of Esterfell, and compares these dates across each calendar system to act as a conversion table, similar to those that appear in farmers' almanacs to assist with international commerce. Dates that occur every year, such as the marking of the seasons, are listed in the relative order they occur, starting with the first day of spring. After that, dates of historical significance are presented in absolute date order.
Note that these dates are not exact or perfectly consistent between calendar systems, as each has its own method of addressing or ignoring lunar days when calculating a date and the length of a year. All date conversions below assume a year with no lunar days. For Ambulare Populi dates prior to 1 AP, KS is used.
| Ambulare Populi | Kivan Standard | Harvest | Tide of Fathoms | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 Bréa | 14 Bréa | 1 Seed | 1 Photic | Vernal Equinox |
| 14 Mull | 14 Mull | 1 Harsh | 1 Pela | Summer Solstice |
| 14 Kret | 14 Kret | 1 Thresh | 1 Demer | Autumnal Equinox |
| 14 Dyrth | 14 Dyrth | 1 Kiln | 1 Bathýs | Winter Solstice |
| 6 Griv 1128 KS | 7 Fray 1127 KS | The first immigrant ship arrives in Esterfell | ||
| 23 Bhán 1181 KS | 38 Thresh 1181 KS | Union Day (Esterfell Accord) | ||
| 1 Kaishi 1 AP | 1 Kaishi 1182 KS | 16 Kiln 1181 KS | Start of Ambulare Populi calendar |